Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-07-23
SCENES ~ NORWAY,
A PEEP AT The MOST NORTHERN
FORT IN THE WORLD.
Visit to the Public schools Of Nardo.
Pleasant and Entertaining Exerci,e-.
Mslodorou~ Factoric. for Rendering
Whale EIuhber into OIL

! Nardo l. the most e:tsterly town in Nor
way, located "u an island Of the same
name Ia the Arctic "cvau. ia latitude -
/ degrees 2h minutes 80 seconds north IL
/ Is separated from the mainland hN a chan
mel Nv" miles wide, and contains popu-
lati"n "t about 2.u0u. 1t claims the most
northern fort in all the world. which is
Enrrlsomed by siNtrt'l men and has an
armament of about an equal number of
OLD fashioned cannon. making u man for
each gun. The keyst,ne uf an arch over
the entrance 1" the rampant bears the date
"lsi.."
There being tw" public schools in the
place, and naturally haNIu. Curusity
I" visit seat OF learning whose founla-
tiUus We're laShcd by the Arctic wave.
entered the larger of the two by rear
d"or, for there was no entrance from the
street nor at either end. WAS kindly
aud politely saiutrd b, the teacher, and
un entering the main room the pupils
arSe in IA body and bowed IL NE 4
seat was given me and a book MAS placed
in my hand that | might follow lht. boys
and girls through their reading lesson.
which was characterized in some meas
ure by that doleful enunciatiou 81 often
the inevitable handkerchief about their
heads. A hif Of lith" cane in a corner
represented the pcdayogic mace The
r"nur> on this day. the Sth ~ July.
were heated by coal stoves The school
contained four departments. under "A
male principal, and three assistant female
teachers. all intelligent and wide awake.
From the principals: room | passed tu
"a al l.tpiIt,r in, ,l,.r,v. 4 Il,
and neatly attired 7 ,ung lady. who re
quired her pupils /, sing for me. and
struve with graceful tact Ia make the eNer-
ui>c~ pleasant and ntelligiblc To one
totally ignorant Of the language II was
almost pitiful To see some of the girls
raressing small bunches of puny dandc-
lion blossoms that seemed aS precious 10
them as victoria rersa would be to "A
southern maid. Others were nursing "a
few sprays Of millefolum in bottles Of
water and one could only wonder that so
stunted and sparse "A flora could begct any
love for flowers at all and yet geranums
and roses in the windows Of the better
houses are not uncommon. Excepting a
small and unimportant one at Hammer
fest, this is the most northern school in
the world, and after IA pleasant hour there
in departed
The remainder of the day I concluded
to spend in visiting the whale ''fahriks:"
that is the establishments for rendering
whale hluhber into oil and transforming
the kraug tf!ensed carcasses) into artificial
Cuano. / have had occasion already to
mention several of the most northern
things in the world; here | discovered the
most powerful stencil in all Europe, and
probably in the world. and yet felt Will
ing 10 brave it to witness dissection of
lrviathans There are around Nardo four
or five establishments, each having several
steam whalers constantly securing the
seas off the coast in pursuit Of whales
Floating in the channel before the diff
ferent factories Were forty flensed car
Casses, some swollen TO enormous prOpOr-
tions. Two large whales, one seventy five
feet i'll length, We're drawn out on the
shore, one with the blubber newly re-
moved, the other fresh from the
water. Several men mounted the latter
by n ladder and clambered about on
its smooth. slippery skin by means Of
sharp spikes attached ia the sOleS of their
boots; with blubber inives two feet III
length in long wooden handles they made
transverse incisions "a deep as the blubber
five or six feet long, aud then running
the cut luGgitudinally for thirty feet. a
blanket of fat was ready for removal
chain WAS attached to the farther end. and
10y the power of windlasS i'll the factory
tins prodigious slab of blubber, weighing
several tUIis, was slowly torn from the
carcass This process was continued till
the liensing was completed. In the fact
ory The bluhber Is cut into small pieces
for the trying out pots. The flesh Of
the fenSed carcass il then cut down into
large pieces that are dragged and pitched
with flesh hooks 10 small cars, il is then
taken 10 drying furnaces, where it is
rendered frabie. When the flesh and
yiscera have been removed, the work Of
chopping down the fiinty forest of bones
is commenced the bones are also sub
jected 10 the drying furnace, and when
parched are ground together with the
flesh into powder, which is barreled and
shipped Ia all parts of Europe as fer
Ricalton IN Outing